The commission voted to approve a 26-person hiring list for the fire department after the fire chief said an administrative error had left one qualifying packet out of the originally planned top 25. Fire Chief (name not specified) asked the commission to certify the list and said the list will remain effective for two years.

The decision matters because the list becomes the pool from which the department will draw replacements if firefighters retire or leave. "I'm requesting that you approve 26 people," the fire chief said during the meeting, explaining that a completed application packet for one candidate was discovered after the initial list was prepared.

The chief described the department's screening steps and volumes: "We had around a 173 people that expressed interest," he said, adding that about 104 or 105 took the written test and the department narrowed the pool to roughly 50 for oral interviews before producing the final list of 26. He cautioned that those figures were ballpark estimates. The chief also told commissioners that the list is intended as an eligibility roster from which hires will be made as needed and that final hires must still pass background checks, physicals and psychological screenings at the time of appointment.

Commissioners asked how the department would choose from multiple candidate lists and whether backgrounds are done in advance. The chief said the department also maintains a separate lateral hiring list for already-certified candidates and that selection will be situational: "If there's a recruit class coming up and it fits our needs, we might pull from this list. But if there's a need for, where there's not a recruit class ... we might pull from the lateral list," he said. He added that the department does not perform full background checks at the time the eligibility list is certified because hires from the list may not occur until months or years later.

The chief explained a local employment rule he described as "merit law," saying it permits the department to skip candidates under certain circumstances: "Merit law allows also, the chief of the department to skip every 3 people," he said, and noted that the department's practice has generally been to proceed straight down the list except where qualifications (for example, paramedic certification) require selecting a particular candidate.

Commissioner Tom moved to approve the minutes from the May 1 meeting earlier on the agenda; the record shows the commission approved the minutes and then approved the hiring list after an asking-for-a-second motion and a voice vote. The meeting record does not include a roll-call vote or a tally of ayes and nays.

In related announcements during the meeting, the fire chief said firefighter Jeff Callahan will be promoted to lieutenant with a swearing-in scheduled for Sept. 17, and that a new ladder truck is already in service with a dedication ceremony planned for Sept. 13. The chief also referred to roadway work on Pendleton Pike that altered left-turn lanes and noted the department has worked with the contractor so emergency vehicles can navigate the changes.

The certified list will remain active for two years; the commission did not take additional formal actions on recruitment policy during the session.